title: Intraventricular injection of human dental pulp stem cells improves hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of intraventricular injection of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) on hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in neonatal rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six neonatal rats (postnatal day 7) were assigned to control, HIBD, or HIBD+DPSC groups (n = 12 each group). For induction of HIBD, rats underwent left carotid artery ligation and were exposed to 8% to 10% oxygen for 2 h. Hoechst 33324-labeled human DPSCs were injected into the left lateral ventricle 3 days after HIBD. Behavioral assays were performed to assess hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and on postnatal day 45, DPSC survival was assessed and expression of neural and glial markers was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HIBD group showed significant deficiencies compared to control on T-maze, radial water maze, and postural reflex tests, and the HIBD+DPSC group showed significant improvement on all behavioral tests. On postnatal day 45, Hoechst 33324-labeled DPSC nuclei were visible in the injected region and left cortex. Subsets of DPSCs showed immunostaining for neuronal (neuron-specific enolase [NSE], Nestin) and glial markers (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], O4). Significantly decreased staining/expression for NSE, GFAP, and O4 was found in the HBID group compared to control, and this was significantly increased in the HBID+DPSC group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intraventricular injection of human DPSCs improves HIBD in neonatal rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-zhi
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Yu-jia
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qin-hong
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Xiao-ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xue-hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000166:cytology*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D018782:Maze Learning; D064231:Nestin / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012021:Reflex, Abnormal; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; C577484:NES protein, human; D064231:Nestin